Triggered measurement reporting for wireless communications

ABSTRACT

A method is performed by a wireless device in a network. The wireless device detects a triggering event related to a procedure for a handover from a source network node to a target network node in which the wireless device relies on downlink beam selection. The wireless device determines measurement information to include in a message to send to the target network node. The measurement information is obtained by measuring one or more beams according to at least one of a radio link management configuration, a beam management configuration, and a measurement configuration. In response to detecting the triggering event, the determined measurement information in the message is sent to the target network node.

PRIORITY

This nonprovisional application is a U.S. National Stage Filing under 35U.S.C. § 371 of International Patent Application Serial No.PCT/SE20.18/051287 filed Nov. 23, 2018 and entitled “TRIGGEREDMEASUREMENT REPORTING FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS” which claims priorityto U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/591,519 filed Nov. 28,2017, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Certain embodiments of the present disclosure relate, in general, towireless communications and, more particularly, to reportingmeasurements for configuring wireless communications.

BACKGROUND Measurement Reporting and Handovers/SCG Change, SCG Additionin NR

As in Long Term Evolution (LTE), in New Radio (NR), an RRC_CONNECTEDuser equipment (UE) performs handovers when it needs to change cells. Tosupport handovers, Secondary Cell Group (SCG) changes, and SCGadditions, the source network node that the UE is connected to mayconfigure the UE to perform measurements on neighbor cells. In NR, thenetwork can configure the UE to perform measurements based onsynchronization signal/physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) block (SSB)or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) (configured asUE-specific reference signals, i.e., network can configure differentsets of CSI-RS resources for different UEs).

One of the reasons different reference signal (RS) types werestandardized in NR is that while the network can transmit one of them inwide beams (typically the SSBs), the other could be transmitted innarrow beams (typically the CSI-RS resources). In general, the followingtradeoff exists:

-   -   Narrow beams improve the coverage, but increase the latency and        overhead;    -   Wide beams provide lower coverage, but improves latency and        overhead;

According to the NR radio resource control (RRC) specifications, 38.331,the network may configure the UE to report the following measurementinformation based on SS/PBCH block(s):

-   -   Measurement results per SS/PBCH block (e.g. beam level Reference        Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality        (RSRQ) and signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) per        SSB index);    -   Measurement results per cell based on SS/PBCH block(s);    -   SS/PBCH block(s) indexes.

The network may configure the UE to report the following measurementinformation based on CSI-RS resources:

-   -   Measurement results per CSI-RS resource (e.g. beam level RSRP,        RSRQ and SINR per CSI-RS resource configured for L3 mobility);    -   Measurement results per cell based on CSI-RS resource(s);    -   CSI-RS resource measurement identifiers (i.e. no measurement        results are included).

Usage of Beam Measurements at Target Cells (or to be SCG PCell if SCGAddition)

Measurement results per SSB and CSI-RS resource are basicallymeasurements per beam, associated to a given cell. And, when it is saidthat indexes are reported, no measurement results are reported, althoughthe UE shall perform the measurements in order to decide which indexesto select. In NR, it is specified that these shall be L3 filtered, asdescribed in the measurement model of 38.300. Both serving cell andneighbor cell beam measurements can be configured to be reported. Atleast the following purposes can be mentioned for these beam measurementinformation:

-   -   1. Enable the target cell (or the SCG PCell, in the case of SCG        addition) to configure contention-free random-access channel        (RACH) resources.

In NR, both contention based and contention free random access uponhandovers and SCG change/addition are supported. In multi-beamoperation, the network may configure the UE with a mapping betweendownlink (DL) beams and RACH resources to be used depending which DLbeam is selected e.g. provided in the RRC re-configuration that triggersthe handover or the SCG change/addition To know for which beams for agiven incoming UE to provide associated contention free resources, thetarget benefits in knowing beam measurement information for eachincoming UE so that it does not have to configure free resources for allavailable DL beams, which could be a waste of RACH capacity. Notice thatthe best beam of a given cell may change from the time the UE sends thereport, the source decides to handover and target prepares contentionfree RACH resources, network may configure the UE to report multiplebeams per cell so that the target has at least the possibility toprepare multiple contention free resources in case the best beam changesor previously best beam is no longer suitable. The network also providesthe UE with one or multiple suitability thresholds for beam selectionupon accessing the target cell. A fallback mechanism between dedicatedRACH and common RACH is also defined. If network provides the UE withcontention free resources for a subset of beams and, upon performingbeam selection i.e. upon selecting one of these beams the UE transmits aRACH preamble, and does not receive a Random-Access Response (RAR)within a RAR time window, as long as the procedure failure timer isrunning, the UE is allowed to select another beam, possibly associatedwith contention free resources. Dedicated RACH resources for contentionfree access can either be mapped to SSBs or CSI-RS resources. CommonRACH for contention based access can be provided for SSB only, at leastin Release-15.

-   -   2. Enables the target cell to configure beam management        resources to incoming UEs i.e. decide which CSI-RS resources or        SSBs at the target cell (or to be SCG PCell in the case of SCG        addition) should be monitored and reported by the UE over L1. It        may also be used to enable the configuration of Radio Link        Monitoring (RLM) beams i.e. reference signal resources to be        monitored.

Beam management is an important feature in NR that does not exist withthe same extent in LTE. It consists of intra-cell mobility where the UEmoves from one beam to another via L1 (e.g. via downlink controlinformation (DCIs)/physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)/physicaldownlink control channel (PDCCH) signalling) or medium access control(MAC) signalling (e.g. via MAC control elements (CEs)). As in inter-cellmobility, the network may also configure the UE to perform measurementson beamformed reference signals and report them. However, differentlyfrom what has been described, these are L1 measurements or informationderived from measurements, such as channel quality indicators (CQIs) orchannel state information (CSI), i.e., there is no L3 filteredmeasurements. Also, as these reports are supposed to help the network todefine which DL beams to send data/control channels they would usuallybe transmitted in narrow beams. And, there could be a burden at the UEto measure and report all possible candidates. Hence, the beammanagement procedure in NR makes sure the UE is monitoring only the mostrelevant beams which may likely be a subset of all the narrow beamscovering the cell or even monitoring the only beams transmittingsomething. In addition, as radio link monitoring (RLM) requires theconfiguration of a subset of beams to be monitored (i.e. SSB or CSI-RSresources), the network needs to know for an incoming UE which beams toconfigure for that purpose.

-   -   3. Enable the source node to take optimized handover decisions        i.e. reducing handover/SCG failure rate, too early handovers,        and ping-pong handovers.

When measurement reports are sent with multiple cells and, for each cellthe beam information, the source network node may prioritize a targetcell whose measurement report shows more beams with strong measurementquantity values. In other words, there could be potential target withhigher cell quality, based on best beam measurements, but another cellwith slightly lower quality but many more detected beams with decentquality, which could be more stable and having lower chance of failure.Notice that differently from 1/ and 2/ here the beam measurementinformation is used in the source node to take the handover or SCGaddition/change decisions.

Beam Management in NR

For beam management, the network may configure the UE to performdifferent kinds of L1 measurements associated to one or multiple sets ofbeams (which in practice can be one or multiple sets of CSI-RS resourcesor possibly SSBs) such as RSRP, CQI, rank indicator (RI), pre-codingmatrix indicator (PMI), contention resolution identity (CRI) etc. Thisconfiguration is different from radio resource management (RRM)configuration and is given in serving cell configuration. It includesreference signal configuration which gives the reference signals UEshould consider and report configurations which describe what kind ofreports (L1-RSRP, CSI) and a linkage between the reference signalconfiguration and reporting configuration.

Ideally the network would configure beams transmitted in all directionsto be monitored by the UE and, the UE could either report the strongestor all of them so that the network could have full information about theUE perception in all possibly directions. However, that is not feasible,especially in higher frequencies where the number of beams can growsignificantly. Hence, only subset of all beams in a cell can be measuredand reported by the UE. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of configuring asubset of beams to be monitored and reported for beam management.

Beam Configurability for RLM in NR

One of the main differences in the NR radio link monitoring (RLM)functionality, compared to LTE, is that the RLM functionality in LTE isdescribed in the specifications so that the UE actions do not depend onparameters configured by the network. On the other hand, in NR, due tothe wide range of frequencies and diversity of envisioned deploymentsand services, RLM is a quite configurable procedure. In NR, the networkmay configure the UE to perform RLM based on: i) different RS types(SS/PBCH block and CSI-RS), ii) the exact resources to be monitored andthe exact number to generate in sync/out of sync (IS/OOS) indications;and iii) the block error rate (BLER) thresholds so that measured SINRvalues can be mapped to them to generate IS/OOS events to be indicatedto the higher layers.

RLM in NR is performed based on up to 8 (preliminary) RLM RS resourcesconfigured by the network, where:

-   -   1. One RLM-RS resource can be either one SS/PBCH block or one        CSI-RS resource/port,    -   2. The RLM-RS resources are UE-specifically configured at least        in case of CSI-RS based RLM.

When UE is configured to perform RLM on one or multiple RLM-RSresource(s),

-   -   1. Periodic IS (in-sync) is indicated if the estimated link        quality corresponding to hypothetical PDCCH BLER based on at        least Y=1 RLM-RS resource among all configured X RLM-RS        resource(s) is above Q in threshold, and    -   2. Periodic OOS is indicated if the estimated link quality        corresponding to hypothetical PDCCH BLER based on all configured        X RLM-RS resource(s) is below Q out threshold.

There currently exist certain challenge in reporting beam measurements,e.g., as used in NR. For example, certain challenges exist with respectto how a target cell, upon handovers/SCG addition/SCG change andre-establishment knows which subset or subset of beams to configure theUE with for:

-   -   1. Beam management monitoring (i.e. L1 monitoring like CSI, CQI,        RSRP) and reporting; and    -   2. RLM beams for monitoring.

Systems and methods described herein may address these technicalchallenges, as explained below in reference to certain exampleembodiments.

It is also known for a UE to send beam reporting in message 3, uponhandover execution. FIG. 3 illustrates an example that may be used incontention-based random access (CBRA). In FIG. 3, the UE selects a“suitable” beam to send msg1 from the common RACH resourcesconfiguration associated with NR-SS carried in a handover command. Then,the gNB sends Msg2 (RAR), and the UE may do beam measurements based onthe NR-SS, whose configuration is carried in NR-SS. Then, the UE sendsMsg3 with a block index indicating to the gNB a better TX beam forsubsequent data transmissions. After the gNB receives the beam report,it could use refined gNB-UE beam pair from Msg4.

There are some limitations in the abovementioned method. For example,the proposed method only sends a single “better TX beam,” not a set orsets of beams. Further, the proposed method does not describe anydetermination or triggers for when these measurements and reports may besent, i.e., this is either completely undefined or envisioned that theseare always reported by the UE, which could be a waste as these are notalways needed. Indeed, the proposed method also fails to address theproblem described herein of beam management and RM configurationoptimization, e.g., knowing the quality of multiple beams. Lastly, theproposed method only describes its use as part of a handover, andtherefore does not address other procedures where the same RLM and beammanagement configuration occurs.

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment, a method is performed by a wireless devicefor transmitting uplink data. The method comprises detecting atriggering event related to a procedure for a handover from a sourcenetwork node to a target network node in which the wireless devicerelies on downlink beam selection. The method further comprisesdetermining measurement information to include in a message to send tothe target network node. The measurement information is obtained bymeasuring one or more beams according to at least one of a radio linkmanagement configuration, a beam management configuration, and ameasurement configuration. In response to detecting the triggeringevent, the method further comprises sending the determined measurementinformation in the message to the target network node.

According to another embodiment, a wireless device comprises a memoryand processing circuitry. The memory is configured to storeinstructions. The processing circuitry is configured to execute theinstructions. The processing circuitry is configured to detect atriggering event related to a procedure for a handover from a sourcenetwork node to a target network node in which the wireless devicerelies on downlink beam selection. The processing circuitry isconfigured to determine measurement information to include in a messageto send to the target network node. The measurement information isobtained by measuring one or more beams according to at least one of aradio link management configuration, a beam management configuration,and a measurement configuration. In response to detecting the triggeringevent, the processing circuitry is configured to send the determinedmeasurement information in the message to the target network node.

According to yet another embodiment, a computer program productcomprises a non-transitory computer readable medium storing computerreadable program code. The computer readable program code comprisesprogram code for detecting a triggering event related to a procedure fora handover from a source network node to a target network node in whichthe wireless device relies on downlink beam selection. The computerreadable program code further comprises program code for determiningmeasurement information to include in a message to send to the targetnetwork node. The measurement information is obtained by measuring oneor more beams according to at least one of a radio link managementconfiguration, a beam management configuration, and a measurementconfiguration. The computer readable program code further comprisesprogram code for, in response to detecting the triggering event, sendingthe determined measurement information in the message to the targetnetwork node.

In certain embodiments, the method/wireless device/computer program codemay include one or more further features:

In particular embodiments, the triggering event corresponds to receiptof a handover command.

In particular embodiments, the triggering event corresponds to receiptof a conditional handover command.

In particular embodiments, detecting the triggering event comprisesdetermining that at least one beam measurement changed after reportingthe beam measurement to the source network node. The message includingthe measurement information indicates to the target network node thatthe at least one beam measurement has changed. The message is sent tothe target network node prior to completing the handover procedure.

In particular embodiments, determining that at least one beammeasurement has changed comprises one or more of determining that astrongest beam has changed and determining that a power, a quality, oran interference associated with the at least one beam has changed.

In particular embodiments, the triggering event corresponds todetermining to perform a RACH fallback procedure after sending arandom-access attempt to the target node and not receiving arandom-access response within a random-access response window.

In particular embodiments, the message including the measurementinformation is sent after receiving a random-access response from thetarget node.

In particular embodiments, the measurement information is included in aMsg3 of a random-access procedure with the target node or in a handovercomplete message.

In particular embodiments, the message including the measurementinformation indicates measurements associated with a set of downlinkbeams, wherein at least one of the downlink beams in the set is not abest beam.

In particular embodiments, the message including the measurementinformation comprise measurement information associated to SS/PBCHblocks, measurement information associated to CSI-RS resources, or both.

In particular embodiments, determining the measurement informationcomprises determining which types of events to configure as triggeringevents.

In particular embodiments, the method/wireless device/computer programcode further comprises determining which message to use to send themeasurement information.

In particular embodiments, determining measurement information comprisesdetermining which measurements to include in the message.

In particular embodiments, determining measurement information comprisesdetermining which measurements to be included in the message to thetarget network node upon accessing.

In particular embodiments, the method/wireless device/computer programcode further comprises performing measurements to be included in themessage including the measurement information to the target network nodeupon accessing.

According to an embodiment, a method is performed by a wireless devicein a network. The method comprises detecting a triggering event relatedto a procedure for connection re-establishment or beam recovery to anetwork node in which the wireless device relies on downlink beamselection. The method further comprises determining measurementinformation to include in a message to send to the network node. Themeasurement information is obtained by measuring one or more beamsaccording to at least one of a radio link management configuration, abeam management configuration, and a measurement configuration. Inresponse to detecting the triggering event, the method further comprisessending the determined measurement information in the message to thenetwork node.

According to another embodiment, a wireless device comprises a memoryand processing circuitry. The memory is configured to storeinstructions. The processing circuitry is configured to execute theinstructions. The processing circuitry is configured to detect atriggering event related to a procedure for connection re-establishmentor beam recovery to a network node in which the wireless device relieson downlink beam selection. The processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to determine measurement information to include in a messageto send to the network node. The measurement information is obtained bymeasuring one or more beams according to at least one of a radio linkmanagement configuration, a beam management configuration, and ameasurement configuration. In response to detecting the triggeringevent, the processing circuitry is configured to send the determinedmeasurement information in the message to the network node.

According to yet another embodiment, a computer program productcomprises a non-transitory computer readable medium storing computerreadable program code. The computer readable program code comprisesprogram code for detecting a triggering event related to a procedure forconnection re-establishment or beam recovery to a network node in whichthe wireless device relies on downlink beam selection. The computerreadable program code further comprises program code for determiningmeasurement information to include in a message to send to the networknode. The measurement information is obtained by measuring one or morebeams according to at least one of a radio link managementconfiguration, a beam management configuration, and a measurementconfiguration. The computer readable program code further comprisesprogram code for, in response to detecting the triggering event, sendingthe determined measurement information in the message to the networknode.

In certain embodiments, the method/wireless device/computer program codemay include one or more further features:

In particular embodiments, the triggering event corresponds to adetection of beam failure towards a source network node.

In particular embodiments, the message including the measurementinformation indicates measurements associated with a set of downlinkbeams, wherein at least one of the downlink beams in the set is not abest beam.

In particular embodiments, the message including the measurementinformation provides measurement information associated to SS/PBCHblocks, measurement information associated to CSI-RS resources, or both.

In particular embodiments, determining measurement information comprisesdetermining which types of events to configure as triggering events.

In particular embodiments, the method/wireless device/computer programcode further comprises determining which message to use to send themeasurement information.

In particular embodiments, determining measurement information comprisesdetermining which measurements to report in the message including themeasurement information.

In particular embodiments, the method/wireless device/computer programcode further comprises performing measurements to be included in themessage including the measurement information to the network node.

According to an embodiment, a method is performed by a target networknode. The method comprises a target network node, the method comprisingusing beam information obtained from a source network node during ahandover procedure of a wireless device from the source network node tothe target network node. The method further comprises receiving amessage comprising measurement information from a wireless device duringthe handover procedure from the source network node. The method furthercomprises, in response to receiving the message comprising measurementinformation from the wireless device, updating resources related to atleast one of a radio link management configuration, a beam managementconfiguration, and a measurement configuration. The method furthercomprises communicating with the wireless device using the updatedresources related to at least one of the radio link managementconfiguration, the beam management configuration, and the measurementconfiguration.

According to another embodiment, a target network node comprises amemory and processing circuitry. The memory is configured to storeinstructions and the processing circuitry is configured to execute theinstructions. The processing circuitry is configured to use beaminformation obtained from a source network node during a handoverprocedure of a wireless device from the source network node to thetarget network node. The processing circuitry is further configured toreceive a message comprising measurement information from a wirelessdevice during the handover procedure from the source network node. Theprocessing circuitry is further configured to, in response to receivingthe message comprising measurement information from the wireless device,update resources related to at least one of a radio link managementconfiguration, a beam management configuration, and a measurementconfiguration. The processing circuitry is further configured tocommunicate with the wireless device using the updated resources relatedto at least one of the radio link management configuration, the beammanagement configuration, and the measurement configuration.

According to yet another embodiment, a computer program productcomprises a non-transitory computer readable medium storing computerreadable program code. The computer readable program code comprisesprogram code for using beam information obtained from a source networknode during a handover procedure of a wireless device from the sourcenetwork node to the target network node. The computer readable programcode further comprises program code for receiving a message comprisingmeasurement information from a wireless device during the handoverprocedure from the source network node. The computer readable programcode further comprises program code for, in response to receiving themessage comprising measurement information from the wireless device,updating resources related to at least one of a radio link managementconfiguration, a beam management configuration, and a measurementconfiguration. The computer readable program code further comprisesprogram code for communicating with the wireless device using theupdated resources related to at least one of the radio link managementconfiguration, the beam management configuration, and the measurementconfiguration.

In certain embodiments, the method/target network node/computer programcode may include one or more further features:

In particular embodiments, the target network node receives the messagecomprising measurement information from the wireless device before thetarget network node sends any beam measurement configuration request tothe wireless device.

In particular embodiments, the measurement information is received in aMsg 3 of a random-access procedure with the wireless device or in ahandover complete message.

In particular embodiments, the message comprising measurementinformation indicates measurements associated with a set of downlinkbeams, wherein at least one of the downlink beams in the set is not abest beam.

According to an embodiment, a method is performed by a network node. Themethod comprises receiving a message comprising measurement informationfrom a wireless device during a connection re-establishment or beamrecovery procedure. The method further comprises, in response toreceiving the message comprising measurement information from thewireless device, updating resources related to at least one of a radiolink management configuration, a beam management configuration, and ameasurement configuration. The method further comprises communicatingwith the wireless device using the updated resources related to at leastone of the radio link management configuration, the beam managementconfiguration, and the measurement configuration.

According to another embodiment, a network node comprises a memory andprocessing circuitry. The memory is configured to store instructions.The processing circuitry is configured to execute the instructions. Theprocessing circuitry is configured to receive a message comprisingmeasurement information from a wireless device during a connectionre-establishment or beam recovery procedure. The processing circuitry isfurther configured to in response to receiving the message comprisingmeasurement information from the wireless device, updating resourcesrelated to at least one of a radio link management configuration, a beammanagement configuration, and a measurement configuration. Theprocessing circuitry is further configured to communicating with thewireless device using the updated resources related to at least one ofthe radio link management configuration, the beam managementconfiguration, and the measurement configuration.

According to yet another embodiment, a computer program productcomprises a non-transitory computer readable medium storing computerreadable program code. The computer readable program code comprisesprogram code for receiving a message comprising measurement informationfrom a wireless device during a connection re-establishment or beamrecovery procedure. The computer readable program code further comprisesprogram code for, in response to receiving the message comprisingmeasurement information from the wireless device, updating resourcesrelated to at least one of a radio link management configuration, a beammanagement configuration, and a measurement configuration. The computerreadable program code further comprises program code for communicatingwith the wireless device using the updated resources related to at leastone of the radio link management configuration, the beam managementconfiguration, and the measurement configuration.

Certain embodiments of the present disclosure may provide one or moretechnical advantages. For example, certain embodiments allow formeasurement information to be sent to a target network node based upon ahandover-related trigger. In this manner, a wireless device may providethe most up-to-date measurement information to the target network node,which may be different from measurement information received from thehanding-over source node. As another example, the triggering event maythe re-establishment of a connection or a beam recovery action.Accordingly, a wireless device may send beam measurements withoutrequiring the network node to determine different beams to measure andreconfigure the wireless device to obtain the beam measurements. As yetanother example, certain embodiments provide a determination of whethera beam measurement has changed as part of the trigger detection process.In this manner, a wireless device may selectively choose when to sendbeam measurements, e.g., if the best beam has changed or if measuredparameters have changed during the handover procedure or sincere-establishment or beam recovery was initiated.

Certain embodiments may have none, some, or all of the above-recitedadvantages. Other advantages may be readily apparent to one having skillin the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the disclosed embodiments and theirfeatures and advantages, reference is now made to the followingdescription, taking in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a configuration of a subset of beams tobe monitored and reported for beam management, in accordance withcertain embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example signalling diagram showing a change in thebest beams of the target cell in the time between receiving the handoverpreparation and the handover execution, in accordance with certainembodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example signalling diagram showing a beamrefinement procedure during a contention-based random access procedure,in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example signalling diagram showing a handovercommand triggering the reporting of measurements, in accordance withcertain embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example signalling diagram showing a conditionalhandover command triggering the reporting of measurements, in accordancewith certain embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example signalling diagram showing a fall backprocedure triggering the reporting of measurements, in accordance withcertain embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example signalling diagram showing the triggeringof reporting measurements in response to detecting a beam failure, inaccordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example signalling diagram showing the triggeringof reporting measurements in response to detecting a change in beammeasurements, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example wireless network, in accordance withcertain embodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example user equipment, in accordance withcertain embodiments;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example virtualization environment, in accordancewith certain embodiments;

FIG. 12 illustrate an example telecommunication network connected via anintermediate network to a host computer, in accordance with certainembodiments;

FIG. 13 illustrates an example host computer communicating via a basestation with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection, inaccordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance certain embodiments;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a second example method implementedin a communication system, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a third method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a fourth method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 18 illustrates an example method performed by a wireless device, inaccordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 19 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a first exampleapparatus in a wireless network, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 20 illustrates a second example method performed by a wirelessdevice, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 21 illustrates a third example method performed by a wirelessdevice, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 22 illustrates an example method performed by a network node, inaccordance with certain embodiments; and

FIG. 23 illustrates a second example method performed by a network node,in accordance with certain embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according totheir ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless adifferent meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context inwhich it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus,component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referringto at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means,step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methodsdisclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact orderdisclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following orpreceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step mustfollow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodimentsdisclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, whereverappropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may applyto any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features andadvantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from thefollowing description.

Baseline Solution: Beam Selection from RACH

A potential baseline solution for determining which beams to configurecould be integrated with the multi-beam random access procedure definedin NR, where DL beams associated to the target cell to be selected bythe UE are associated to the preamble the UE transmits and the RACHresource the UE should use in the UL. In other words, by detecting aselected preamble in a specific RACH resource the network knows the DLbeam that the UE has selected to access the cell and knows how to sendthe RAR. On the other hand, according to current NR specifications itsuffices that the DL beam is suitable (e.g., above a configurablethreshold provided in handover command/SCG change/SCG additionconfiguration message), meaning the network cannot be certain that thisis among the best beams. Hence, after the RAR is transmitted and theHandover is completed, the target node may need to re-configure the UEwith beam management resources based on that beam, as that is mostupdated information available about the beam quality for the incomingUE. Accordingly, additional considerations may be implemented to addressthese issues.

Beam Selection from RACH+Beam Measurement Information Provided inHandover Preparation

In certain embodiments, the source node can configure the UE to reportbeam measurement information associated to neighbor cells based oncertain triggering measurement events. As in LTE, it has been agreed inNR that the source node can send, during handover preparation, thesemeasurements to the target cell so that the target can select the DLbeams to provide dedicated RACH resource e.g., for contention-freeaccess. Another way to use that information is to configure DL beams inthe target cell for L1 monitoring and reporting (e.g., for beammanagement procedures) and to configure DL beams in the target for RLM.The information from source to target may be sent in theHandoverPreparationInformation message (or by any other suitable messageor transmission).

Hence, when the UE accesses the target node, the target node mightalready have RSRP/RSRQ/SINR measurements because the source node mighthave sent them to the target node via HandoverPreparationInformation, aspart of the RRM config., within CandidateCellInfoList. And, as in LTEthe quality of these cells might not change dramatically from the timethe UE sends the latest measurement reports to the source node (thatwould be sent to the target node) until the time the handover executionis performed.

It has been agreed that the source node can send both cell and beammeasurements in HandoverPreparationInformation, as part of the RRMconfig, as agreed in RAN2 #99 Berlin:

2.2 As in LTE, the HandoverPreparationInformation to be transmitted fromthe source gNB to the target gNB can include the AS configuration, theRRM configuration and the AS context (including information necessary tohandle handover failures). The details of the content of each IE areFFS. 4.2: As in LTE, to support CA case, the RRM configuration caninclude the list of best cells on each frequency for which measurementinformation is available. 5 Available beam measurement information canbe part of the RRM configuration of the HandoverPreparationInformationmessage if beam measurement information (i.e. beam indexes andoptionally measurement results) have been configured by the sourcegNodeB to be reported by a UE. That information is not a mandatory partof the HandoverPreparationInformation message 6 The RRM configurationcan include both beam measurement information (for layer 3 mobility)associated to SS Block(s) and CSI-RS(s) for the reported cell (or cellsdepending on outcome of FFS above) if both types of measurements areavailable. . . .

Observation 1—In NR, as in LTE, the Source can Provide Beam and CellMeasurements Information to Target as Part of RRM-Config in HandoverPreparation Information.

The main purpose of the cell measurements is to enable the target topossibly setup dual connectivity (DC) and/or carrier aggregation (CA),while beam measurements can be used in target to allocate contentionfree resources per beam or optimize handover decisions (e.g. byprioritizing cells with more stable beams). In addition, these beammeasurements could also be used by target as input for the beammanagement configuration(s) to be provided to the UE e.g. to limit theamount of L1 beam reporting after the handover, a limited amount ofCSI-RS resources are configured, and quasi co-located (QCL) with asubset of SS/PBCK blocks.

However, while previously performed cell measurements can be consideredstable from the handover preparation until the handover execution, ithas been acknowledged that beam measurements might not i.e. the bestbeams at the moment the UE sends the first measurement reports that maytrigger a handover to the moment the UE finally receives the handovercommand may be different. And, for that reason, a RACH fallbackmechanism has been agreed where the UE can use common resources whenbeam selection upon handovers lead to a beam that does not havecontention free resources associated.

Observation 2—In NR, Best Beams of Target Cell May Change from the Timethe Target Receives the HO Preparation to the Time the UE Performs HOExecution. Hence, a RACH Fallback Mechanism was Agreed in RAN2.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example in which the best beams of the target cellmay change from the time the target receives the HO preparation to thetime the UE performs HO execution.

When that RACH fallback is used, the UE most likely has updated beammeasurements and, it could be the case that beam managementconfigurations and the RLM configurations provided in the handovercommand, possibly based on previous measurements, might not be the mostoptimized configurations.

Hence, a consequence could be that despite the RLM and beam managementconfigurations being provided in the RRC Configuration (e.g. handovercommand, SCG addition/change command), upon accessing the target celland start the initial beam measurement L1 reporting and RLM, the networkmay possibly send to the UE yet another RRC re-configuration to optimizethe beams that shall be monitored. An even worse consequence could bethe occurrence of beam failure and beam recovery procedure, which may betriggered if the RLM resources to be monitored are not properlyconfigured e.g. UE configured to monitor and trigger failure based onbeams that are not really providing decent quality.

There are, proposed herein, various embodiments which address one ormore of the issues disclosed herein. For example, certain embodimentsprovide methods in a wireless device (such as a UE) for the triggeringof the transmission of a measurement report at the target cell uponhandover, connection re-establishments, SCG changes/SCG additions.Further described herein are various embodiments that: (1) providedifferent methods for triggering the beam/cell reports to the targeti.e. indicating when the wireless device shall send these reports, (2)describe in which message to the target these measurements are reported,(3) describe which exact measurements are reported, (4) describe how thewireless device decides which measurements to be included in themeasurement report to target upon accessing, and (5) describe how thewireless device performs these measurements to be included in themeasurement report to target upon accessing. Embodiments 1-5 may becombined any suitable manner.

Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technicaladvantages. For example, certain embodiments use available measurementsat the UE to help the target cell to re-configure RLM resources and beammanagement parameters. By doing that, the UE may access the target celland avoid additional rounds of configurations and reporting until it isusing an optimized configuration. No extra effort is required becausethe UE would perform these measurements anyway, at least until theprocedure failure timer (like t307 in LTE, for the case of handoverfailure) is running and until an RRC Reconfiguration indicating toaccess a target cell is received, like a HO command or SCG addition orSCG change. In a setup with few beams, such features may not be requiredand may be turned off. By contrast, examples of systems that may benefitfrom the methods and systems disclosed herein include systems withmultiple beams and systems with multiple transmission reception points(TRPs) where the beam management might be configured and managed by itsown TRP entity.

Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described morefully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments,however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosedherein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limitedto only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments areprovided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter tothose skilled in the art.

In some embodiments a non-limiting term “UE” is used. The UE herein canbe any type of wireless device capable of communicating with networknode or another UE over radio signals. The UE may also be radiocommunication device, target device, device to device (D2D) UE, machinetype UE or UE capable of machine to machine communication (M2M), targetdevice, a sensor equipped with UE, iPAD, Tablet, mobile terminals, smartphone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME),USB dongles, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) etc.

Additionally, in some embodiments generic terminology “network node”, isused. It can be any kind of network node which may comprise of a radionetwork node such as base station, radio base station, base transceiverstation, base station controller, network controller, gNB, en-gNB,nr-eNB, NR BS, evolved Node B (eNB), Node B, Multi-cell/multicastCoordination Entity (MCE), relay node, access point, radio access point,Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH), a multi-standard BS(a.k.a. MSR BS), a core network node (e.g., MME, SON node, acoordinating node, positioning node (e.g. location server, SMLC, E-SMLCetc), MDT node, etc.), or even an external node (e.g., 3^(rd) partynode, a node external to the current network), etc. The network node mayalso comprise a test equipment. Certain embodiments may be described byreference of a “source node” or a “target node.” In some embodiments,the source node and target node are the same node. In some embodiments,the source node and target node are different nodes.

The term “radio node” used herein may be used to denote a UE or a radionetwork node.

The embodiments described herein are applicable to single carrier aswell as to multicarrier operation of the UE. Examples of multicarrieroperation are carrier aggregation (CA), multi-connectivity (MC) etc. InCA operation the UE is able to receive and/or transmit data to more thanone serving cells. In MC the UE is served by at least two serving cells(e.g. PCell and PSCell) operated by two different network nodes. Theterm carrier aggregation (CA) is also called (e.g. interchangeablycalled) “multi-carrier system”, “multi-cell operation”, “multi-carrieroperation”, “multi-carrier” transmission and/or reception. In CA one ofthe component carriers (CCs) is the primary component carrier (PCC) orsimply primary carrier or even anchor carrier. The remaining ones arecalled secondary component carrier (SCC) or simply secondary carriers oreven supplementary carriers. The serving cell is interchangeably calledas primary cell (PCell) or primary serving cell (PSC). Similarly, thesecondary serving cell is interchangeably called as secondary cell(SCell) or secondary serving cell (SSC).

The term “signaling” used herein may comprise any of: high-layersignaling (e.g., via RRC, NAS message or a like), lower-layer signaling(e.g., via a MAC, a physical control channel etc), or a combinationthereof. The signaling may be implicit or explicit. The signaling mayfurther be unicast, multicast or broadcast. The signaling may also bedirectly to another node or via a third node.

Sets of Embodiments for Triggering the Beam/Cell Reports to the Target

In a first set of embodiments, the occurrence of a handover execution,SCG change or SCG addition procedures, e.g., the reception of an RRCConfiguration message that indicates that UE shall access a target cell,triggers the UE to send a beam/cell report to a target network node. Inother words, a handover command (in LTE terms, anRRCConnectionReconfiguration with mobilityControlInfo; in NR terms, asynchronous RRC Reconfiguration) triggers the UE to send the beam/cellreport to the target network node. The message may contain at least atarget cell identifier, the frequency(ies) of the beamformedsynchronization source signals (SS/PBCH Block) and the beamformedreference signals in the DL associated to the RACH resources to be used,where these RS can be the same SS/PBCH Block(s) and/or dedicated CSI-RSresources. The cell identifier in the message indicates that the UEshould measure and report beams associated to that specific cell. Anexample signal flow graph related to these embodiments is given in FIG.4 with the highlighted signal (HO command) acting as the trigger forreporting the measurements. While in the illustrated example, it isshown that the UE reports the logged measurements along with msg3, theUE may do so in any subsequent message as indicated below (see below“Message to the target in which these measurements are reported”).

In a second set of embodiments, the triggering event is the occurrenceof a conditional handover execution, conditional SCG change orconditional SCG addition procedures, e.g., the reception of an RRCConfiguration message that indicates that UE shall access one of a setof target cell upon the triggering of a configured condition. Forexample, if the serving cell quality becomes worse than a threshold andone of the configured targets becomes better than a threshold or servingcell quality becomes worse than one of the configured targets. In otherwords, a conditional handover command (In LTE terms, anRRCConnectionReconfiguration with mobilityControlInfo. In NR terms, aconditional synchronous RRC Reconfiguration). The message contains atleast one or multiple target cell identifiers, the frequency(ies) of thebeamformed synchronization source signals (SS/PBCH Block) per cell andthe beamformed reference signals in the DL associated to the RACHresources to be used per cell, where these RS can be the same SS/PBCHBlock(s) and/or dedicated CSI-RS resources. The cell identifiers in themessage indicate that the UE should measure and report beams associatedto one of the selected cells. An example signal flow graph related tothe second set of embodiments is given in FIG. 5 with highlighted signal(Conditional HO command) acting as the trigger for reporting themeasurements. While the illustrated example shows the UE reporting thelogged measurements along with msg3, it is contemplated herein that theUE may report the logged measurements in any other suitable message asindicated below (see below “Message to the target in which thesemeasurements are reported”). As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the UE mayperform handover between a source gNB and a target gNB. As describedabove, the handover may be from a source cell associated to a sourcenode to a target cell associated to a target node.

In a third set of embodiments, the triggering event is the occurrence ofa RACH fallback procedure upon accessing the target cell, e.g., when theUE selects a DL beam at the target cell (either with dedicated resourceor common) and does not receive a RAR within the RAR window. Then,according to the RACH fallback procedure, the UE may select another beamand perform random access again and again after the end of each RAR timewindow and, as long as the “procedure failure timer” (e.g. Handoverfailure timer, like T307 in LTE) is running. Hence, when the UE succeedsin accessing the target cell with a RACH fallback procedure, as that isan indication that the beams the target has allocated for contentionfree RACH might have not be the best beams and, that the beam managementand RLM resources configured in the RRC Configuration triggering theaccess might also not be the most optimized configuration, the UE sendsa measurement report to target upon accessing it, where thesemeasurements contain at least beam measurements associated to the targetcell. An example signal flow graph related to the third set ofembodiments is given in FIG. 6 with highlighted box (RACH fallbackprocedure) acting as the trigger for reporting the measurements. Whilethe illustrated example shows the UE reporting the logged measurementsalong with msg3, it is contemplated herein that the UE may report thelogged measurements in any other suitable message as indicated below(see below “Message to the target in which these measurements arereported”).

In a fourth set of embodiments, the triggering event is the occurrenceof a successful beam recovery procedure, e.g., the detection of beamfailure, followed by the transmission on an UL signal on L1/L2, like aPRACH preamble, the monitoring of a MAC signalling message within a timewindow (like a RAR time window) and, upon the reception of that L1/L2response from the network, that indicates that the beam recoveryprocedure has been successful, the measurement reporting with beammeasurements to the target cell is triggered. Notice that the targetcell can be the same as the source cell or a different cell (in the casemulti-cell beam recovery is supported e.g., if UE is allowed to performbeam selection on beams associated to another cell different from theserving cell, upon beam failure detection). In one example, the UEalways report available beam measurements upon receiving the responsefrom the network confirming the successful beam recovery. In anotherexample, the response message from the network can include a flag orparameter indicating the UE shall send available measurements after thatmessage. An example signal flow graph related to the fourth set ofembodiments is given in FIG. 7 with highlighted box (detection of beamfailure towards source cell) acting as the trigger for reporting themeasurements. The illustrated example depicts beam recovery within thesame cell, but certain embodiments contemplate that beam recovery may beperformed in target gNB (a different cell and/or node), such as in amulti-cell beam recovery scenario).

In a fifth set of embodiments, the triggering event is the occurrence ofat least one beam recovery attempt failure upon beam recovery procedure,e.g., the detection of beam failure, followed by the transmission on anUL signal on L1/L2, like a PRACH preamble, the monitoring of a MACsignalling message within a time window (like a RAR time window) and,the expiring timer controlling that time window (like the RAR timewindow in random access procedure). The fact that the window expires,triggers the UE to perform another beam selection, and, that is thetrigger to indicate the UE that beam measurements associated to thetarget cell shall be reported when and if the procedure succeeds e.g.,upon the reception of that L1/L2 response from the network, thatindicates that the beam recovery procedure has been successful, and, asthe procedure had at least one failed recovery attempt, the measurementreporting with beam measurements to the target cell is triggered. Notethat the target cell can be the same as the source cell or a differentcell (in the case multi-cell beam recovery is supported. e.g., if UE isallowed to perform beam selection on beams associated to another celldifferent from the serving cell, upon beam failure detection). In someembodiments, the UE always report available beam measurements uponreceiving the response from the network confirming the successful beamrecovery. In some embodiments, the response message from the network caninclude a flag or parameter indicating the UE shall send availablemeasurements after that message.

In certain embodiments, the triggering event may include the detectionby the UE that beam conditions may have changed. In some embodiments,the beam change condition can be that the best beams included inprevious measurement reports associated to the target cell have changed.In some embodiments, the beam change condition can be that the number ofdetected beams is different corresponding to the target cell. An examplesignal flow graph related to the fifth set of embodiments is given inFIG. 8 with highlighted box (detection of changes in the beammeasurements) acting as the trigger for reporting the measurements.While the illustrated example shows the UE reporting the loggedmeasurements along with msg3, it is contemplated herein that the UE mayreport the logged measurements in any other suitable message asindicated below (see below “Message to the target in which thesemeasurements are reported”).

In certain embodiments, the triggering event includes detecting by theUE that the beam measurements may have changed more than a threshold(e.g., beamQualityChangeThreshold). The beamQualityChangeThreshold canbe configured, such as in the reportConfig or in the measIDconfiguration. The UE may compute the difference between the beam levelmeasurements as included in the latest measurement report as sent by theUE to the network and the beam level measurements as perceived by the UEat the time of reception of the RAR. If these measurements' differenceexceeds the configured beamQualityChangeThreshold, then the UE maytrigger the reporting to the target cell.

In certain embodiments, the triggering event includes detecting by theUE that the time from the first measurement report until the RRCConfiguration triggering the access to target is above a definedthreshold. In some embodiments, the detecting include a timer initiatedat the transmission of each measurement report and determining, upon thetimer expiring and the UE having not yet received an RRC Configurationtriggering the access to target, that when it is received that theaccess to target should include the measurement report described in theinvention.

In certain embodiments, the target cell configuration includingmeasurement configuration received in the HO command, the UE isconfigured the triggering condition of the target cell qualitymeasurements.

Message to the Target in which these Measurements are Reported

In certain embodiments, the measurement report is included in theHandover Complete message in the case of a handover.

In certain embodiments, the measurement report is included in the RRCRe-establishment Request message (or equivalent). In some embodiments,the UE participates in a SCG addition or change and if there is anequivalent message as the HO complete, the UE may include these beammeasurements in the equivalent message. If there is not an equivalentmessage, a subsequent measurement report may be used to send themeasurements, e.g., with a special measId or a measId configured by thetarget for that purpose.

In certain embodiments related to long term learning solutions such asSON functions, the UE includes the measurement report in a UE historyinformation log (e.g., VisitedCellInfoList). This information may beprovided by the UE in a UEInformationResponse message as a response tothe UEInformationRequest message.

Which Measurements are Reported

In certain embodiments, the UE reports measurements associated to thetarget cell, such as:

1. Measurement information associated to SS/PBCH blocks:

-   -   SSB index(es) according to one or multiple measurement        quantities (e.g. RSRP, RSRQ or SINR);    -   Measurement results per SSB index i.e. RSRP and/or RSQ and/or        SINR per SSB beam;    -   Cell measurement results based on SSB;

2. Measurement information associated to CSI-RS resources:

-   -   Index(es) for CSI-RS resources (e.g. configured for L3        mobility), according to one or multiple measurement quantities        (e.g. RSRP, RSRQ or SINR);    -   Measurement results per CSI-Rs resource index i.e. RSRP and/or        RSQ and/or SINR per CSI-RS beam;    -   Cell measurement results based on CSI-RS; 3. Measurement        information associated to both SSB and CSI-RS resources:    -   SSB and CSI-RS indexes;    -   SSB and CSI-RS measurement results;

In certain embodiments, the UE reports measurements associated tomultiple cells, such as: i) neighbor cells in the same frequency, ii)all triggered cells from which beam measurement information isavailable, iii) best neighbors in each serving frequency on source, iv)beam measurement information on serving cells in source (in someembodiments the beam measurement information is on SCells after the SCGchange/addition/handover).

In certain embodiments, the UE reports information associated to theRACH fallback procedure. In some embodiments, the UE reports that RACHfallback has occurred e.g. with a flag. More detailed information canalso be reported. In some embodiments, the UE reports any of theabovementioned beam measurement information associated to the successfulRACH procedure. In some embodiments, the UE reports the beam measurementinformation associated to all RACH attempts, indicating the failed onesand the successful ones. In some embodiments, the UE reports the numberof failed RACH attempts, i.e., that is incremented at the UE untilrandom access succeeds.

In certain embodiments, the UE reports information associated to thefailed beam recovery attempts, in the case the triggering conditionbeing the occurrence of failed attempts in beam recovery. In someembodiments, the UE reports that at least one or multiple failedattempts have occurred e.g., with a flag. More detailed information canalso be reported. In some embodiments, the UE reports any of theabovementioned beam measurement information associated to the successfulbeam recovery procedure. In some embodiments, the UE reports the beammeasurement information associated to all beam recovery attempts,indicating the failed ones and the successful one. In some embodiments,the UE reports the number of failed beam recovery attempts, i.e., thatis incremented at the UE until beam recovery succeeds. In someembodiments, the beam recovery may be a different procedure compared torandom access or, the same procedure with different parameters.

How the UE Decides which Measurements to be Included in the MeasurementReport to Target Upon Accessing

In certain embodiments the UE includes in the “measurement report totarget upon accessing the target” all available beam measurementinformation associated to the target cell, e.g., any of the informationdescribed above in the previous section.

In one set of embodiments, the UE includes the measurement informationaccording to configuration provided by the target in the RRCconfiguration message, e.g., in the case the triggering is an RRCReconfiguration with target access, such as in the case of handovers,SCG changes, and/or SCG additions. In other words, the RRC message maycontain an additional IE enabling the reporting feature and possiblyincluding reporting configuration parameters for that beam measurementreport upon accessing the target cell. From the network side, that canbe an indication that the target node can benefit from that information,e.g., due to previous statics associated to incoming UEs from thatserving cell.

In certain embodiments, that configuration is implicit, e.g., it is usedfor other purposes and, based on that configuration, the UE deriveswhich exact measurements shall be performed and reported. For example,the UE selects what to report based on the RACH configuration providedin the RRC configuration as shown in the examples below.

Example A

-   -   If only common RACH resources are provided, based on SSB, UE        include SSB measurements associated to the target cell;    -   If common RACH resources (based on SSB) and dedicated RACH        resources are provided:        -   If dedicated resources based on SSB, do not report beam            measurements upon accessing. The reasoning is that the            network will have some degree of knowledge of beam coverage.        -   If dedicated based on CSI-RS, report SSB beam measurements;            Here the reasoning would be that the preamble associated to            CSI-RS would already provide the best CSI-RS beam to the            network, hence, SSB would be an additional information to            the network.

Example B

-   -   If only common RACH resources are provided, based on SSB, do not        report beam measurements upon accessing the target. The        reasoning is that the network will have some degree of knowledge        of beam coverage already. That could be the case in deployments        with few number of beams.    -   If common RACH resources (based on SSB) and dedicated RACH        resources are provided:        -   If dedicated resources based on SSB, report available CSI-RS            beam measurements upon accessing if available. The reasoning            is that the network may benefit from additional information            concerning best narrow beams although the knowledge provided            by preamble and RACH resources accessed is on suitable SSB.        -   If dedicated based on CSI-RS, report available SSB beam            measurements upon accessing if available. The reasoning is            that the network may benefit from additional information            concerning best narrow beams although the knowledge provided            by preamble and RACH resources accessed is on suitable SSB.

In certain embodiments, the UE includes beam measurements according to areporting configuration provided in the measConfig provided by thetarget cell that may contain a measurement identifier, possibly withoutany measObject association, so that the target identifies what themeasurement report is about. In some embodiments, the measObject may beOPTIONAL in a measurement configuration. The measurement configurationmay contain a reportConfig where a special reportType for that purposecan be defined, e.g., using targetAccesReport, which may optionallycontain additional configurations or not. Note that the target maydecide that because the target knows the UE's measConfig in source,e.g., as provided during the preparation phase (HO preparation, e.g.,via the HandoverPreparationInformation message). In some embodiments,the measId is included in the measurement report so that the target cellidentifies which measurement this is. In other embodiments, the measIdmay not be used anymore.

How the UE Performs these Measurements to be Included in the MeasurementReport to Target Upon Accessing

In certain embodiments, the UE perform measurements according to theconfiguration information provided by a source node, e.g., usingmeasConfig, until the UE completes the procedure. In some embodiments,beam measurement information may be generated according to theconfiguration in each configured measId and associated reportConfig andmeasObject.

In certain embodiments in which the beam measurement information isassociated with the target cell, the UE may perform measurementsaccording to one or more consolidation thresholds configured by aconfiguration, e.g., measObject, associated to the target cell and usingfilter coefficients for beam measurements as configured, e.g., inquantityConfig. In some embodiments, different filter coefficients forL3 beam filtered measurements may be used based on CSI-RS and/or SSB.

In certain embodiments, the UE performs measurements according to theconfiguration information, e.g., measConfig, provided by the targetnode. In some embodiments, a special IE may be defined for this type ofmeasurements or additional parameters defined in measConfig (or internalIEs). For example, filter coefficients only for measurements to beperformed during beam selection for RACH upon accessing the target maybe provided. They may be provided within a quantityConfig or as part ofanother IE.

In certain embodiments, the UE performs measurements according to themeasConfig provided by the target. When receiving the target cellmeasConfig, UE may not discard and forget measurements and/or filteringpreviously performed according to source cell configuration butcontinues filtering the target cell/beam qualities.

Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in anyappropriate type of system using any suitable components, theembodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wirelessnetwork, such as the example wireless network illustrated in FIG. 9. Forsimplicity, the wireless network of FIG. 9 only depicts network 106,network nodes 160 and 160 b, and WDs 110, 110 b, and 110 c. In practice,a wireless network may further include any additional elements suitableto support communication between wireless devices or between a wirelessdevice and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, aservice provider, or any other network node or end device. Of theillustrated components, network node 160 and wireless device (WD) 110are depicted with additional detail. The wireless network may providecommunication and other types of services to one or more wirelessdevices to facilitate the wireless devices' access to and/or use of theservices provided by, or via, the wireless network.

The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any type ofcommunication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio networkor other similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wirelessnetwork may be configured to operate according to specific standards orother types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particularembodiments of the wireless network may implement communicationstandards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution(LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless localarea network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/orany other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as theWorldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth,Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.

Network 106 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks,IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet datanetworks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs), local areanetworks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks,wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks toenable communication between devices.

Network node 160 and WD 110 comprise various components described inmore detail below. These components work together in order to providenetwork node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providingwireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments,the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wirelessnetworks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices,relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that mayfacilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signalswhether via wired or wireless connections.

As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured,arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with awireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in thewireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to thewireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration)in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are notlimited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), basestations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs(eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based onthe amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, theirtransmit power level) and may then also be referred to as femto basestations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro basestations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor nodecontrolling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (orall) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralizeddigital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to asRemote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not beintegrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of adistributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in adistributed antenna system (DAS). Yet further examples of network nodesinclude multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, networkcontrollers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base stationcontrollers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmissionpoints, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities(MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SONnodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs. As anotherexample, a network node may be a virtual network node as described inmore detail below. More generally, however, network nodes may representany suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged,and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless device with accessto the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless devicethat has accessed the wireless network.

In FIG. 9, network node 160 includes processing circuitry 170, devicereadable medium 180, interface 190, auxiliary equipment 184, powersource 186, power circuitry 187, and antenna 162. Although network node160 illustrated in the example wireless network of FIG. 9 may representa device that includes the illustrated combination of hardwarecomponents, other embodiments may comprise network nodes with differentcombinations of components. It is to be understood that a network nodecomprises any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed toperform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein.Moreover, while the components of network node 160 are depicted assingle boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multipleboxes, in practice, a network node may comprise multiple differentphysical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g.,device readable medium 180 may comprise multiple separate hard drives aswell as multiple RAM modules).

Similarly, network node 160 may be composed of multiple physicallyseparate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or aBTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their ownrespective components. In certain scenarios in which network node 160comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components),one or more of the separate components may be shared among severalnetwork nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeB's.In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in someinstances be considered a single separate network node. In someembodiments, network node 160 may be configured to support multipleradio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some componentsmay be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium 180 for thedifferent RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the sameantenna 162 may be shared by the RATs). Network node 160 may alsoinclude multiple sets of the various illustrated components fordifferent wireless technologies integrated into network node 160, suchas, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wirelesstechnologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into thesame or different chip or set of chips and other components withinnetwork node 160.

Processing circuitry 170 is configured to perform any determining,calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations)described herein as being provided by a network node. These operationsperformed by processing circuitry 170 may include processing informationobtained by processing circuitry 170 by, for example, converting theobtained information into other information, comparing the obtainedinformation or converted information to information stored in thenetwork node, and/or performing one or more operations based on theobtained information or converted information, and as a result of saidprocessing making a determination.

Processing circuitry 170 may comprise a combination of one or more of amicroprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit,digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, fieldprogrammable gate array, or any other suitable computing device,resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logicoperable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other networknode 160 components, such as device readable medium 180, network node160 functionality. For example, processing circuitry 170 may executeinstructions stored in device readable medium 180 or in memory withinprocessing circuitry 170. Such functionality may include providing anyof the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussedherein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 170 may include asystem on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 170 may include one or more ofradio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 172 and baseband processingcircuitry 174. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceivercircuitry 172 and baseband processing circuitry 174 may be on separatechips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units anddigital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceivercircuitry 172 and baseband processing circuitry 174 may be on the samechip or set of chips, boards, or units

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality describedherein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB or othersuch network device may be performed by processing circuitry 170executing instructions stored on device readable medium 180 or memorywithin processing circuitry 170. In alternative embodiments, some or allof the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 170 withoutexecuting instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readablemedium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those embodiments,whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storagemedium or not, processing circuitry 170 can be configured to perform thedescribed functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality arenot limited to processing circuitry 170 alone or to other components ofnetwork node 160, but are enjoyed by network node 160 as a whole, and/orby end users and the wireless network generally.

Device readable medium 180 may comprise any form of volatile ornon-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation,persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory,magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removablestorage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or aDigital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile,non-transitory device readable and/or computer-executable memory devicesthat store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used byprocessing circuitry 170. Device readable medium 180 may store anysuitable instructions, data or information, including a computerprogram, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules,code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executedby processing circuitry 170 and, utilized by network node 160. Devicereadable medium 180 may be used to store any calculations made byprocessing circuitry 170 and/or any data received via interface 190. Insome embodiments, processing circuitry 170 and device readable medium180 may be considered to be integrated.

Interface 190 is used in the wired or wireless communication ofsignalling and/or data between network node 160, network 106, and/or WDs110. As illustrated, interface 190 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 194 tosend and receive data, for example to and from network 106 over a wiredconnection. Interface 190 also includes radio front end circuitry 192that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna162. Radio front end circuitry 192 comprises filters 198 and amplifiers196. Radio front end circuitry 192 may be connected to antenna 162 andprocessing circuitry 170. Radio front end circuitry may be configured tocondition signals communicated between antenna 162 and processingcircuitry 170. Radio front end circuitry 192 may receive digital datathat is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wirelessconnection. Radio front end circuitry 192 may convert the digital datainto a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidthparameters using a combination of filters 198 and/or amplifiers 196. Theradio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 162. Similarly, whenreceiving data, antenna 162 may collect radio signals which are thenconverted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 192. Thedigital data may be passed to processing circuitry 170. In otherembodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/ordifferent combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node 160 may not includeseparate radio front end circuitry 192, instead, processing circuitry170 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected toantenna 162 without separate radio front end circuitry 192. Similarly,in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 172 may beconsidered a part of interface 190. In still other embodiments,interface 190 may include one or more ports or terminals 194, radiofront end circuitry 192, and RF transceiver circuitry 172, as part of aradio unit (not shown), and interface 190 may communicate with basebandprocessing circuitry 174, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

Antenna 162 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays,configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna 162 may becoupled to radio front end circuitry 190 and may be any type of antennacapable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. Insome embodiments, antenna 162 may comprise one or more omni-directional,sector or panel antennas operable to transmit/receive radio signalsbetween, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. An omni-directional antenna maybe used to transmit/receive radio signals in any direction, a sectorantenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals from deviceswithin a particular area, and a panel antenna may be a line of sightantenna used to transmit/receive radio signals in a relatively straightline. In some instances, the use of more than one antenna may bereferred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 162 may be separatefrom network node 160 and may be connectable to network node 160 throughan interface or port.

Antenna 162, interface 190, and/or processing circuitry 170 may beconfigured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtainingoperations described herein as being performed by a network node. Anyinformation, data and/or signals may be received from a wireless device,another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly,antenna 162, interface 190, and/or processing circuitry 170 may beconfigured to perform any transmitting operations described herein asbeing performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signalsmay be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or anyother network equipment.

Power circuitry 187 may comprise, or be coupled to, power managementcircuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node 160with power for performing the functionality described herein. Powercircuitry 187 may receive power from power source 186. Power source 186and/or power circuitry 187 may be configured to provide power to thevarious components of network node 160 in a form suitable for therespective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed foreach respective component). Power source 186 may either be included in,or external to, power circuitry 187 and/or network node 160. Forexample, network node 160 may be connectable to an external power source(e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface suchas an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies powerto power circuitry 187. As a further example, power source 186 maycomprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery packwhich is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 187. Thebattery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also beused.

Alternative embodiments of network node 160 may include additionalcomponents beyond those shown in FIG. 9 that may be responsible forproviding certain aspects of the network node's functionality, includingany of the functionality described herein and/or any functionalitynecessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example,network node 160 may include user interface equipment to allow input ofinformation into network node 160 and to allow output of informationfrom network node 160. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic,maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node160.

As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable,configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly withnetwork nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, theterm WD may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE).Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receivingwireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infraredwaves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying informationthrough air. In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmitand/or receive information without direct human interaction. Forinstance, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network on apredetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event,or in response to requests from the network. Examples of a WD include,but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, avoice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktopcomputer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, agaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance,a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, atablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mountedequipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment(CPE). a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, etc. A WD may supportdevice-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPPstandard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V),vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and may inthis case be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet anotherspecific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD mayrepresent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/ormeasurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/ormeasurements to another WD and/or a network node. The WD may in thiscase be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3GPP contextbe referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the WD maybe a UE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT)standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors,metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home orpersonal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personalwearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, aWD may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable ofmonitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functionsassociated with its operation. A WD as described above may represent theendpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may bereferred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described abovemay be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobiledevice or a mobile terminal.

As illustrated, wireless device 110 includes antenna 111, interface 114,processing circuitry 120, device readable medium 130, user interfaceequipment 132, auxiliary equipment 134, power source 136 and powercircuitry 137. WD 110 may include multiple sets of one or more of theillustrated components for different wireless technologies supported byWD 110, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, orBluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wirelesstechnologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or setof chips as other components within WD 110.

Antenna 111 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays,configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected tointerface 114. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna 111 may beseparate from WD 110 and be connectable to WD 110 through an interfaceor port. Antenna 111, interface 114, and/or processing circuitry 120 maybe configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operationsdescribed herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, dataand/or signals may be received from a network node and/or another WD. Insome embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 111 may beconsidered an interface.

As illustrated, interface 114 comprises radio front end circuitry 112and antenna 111. Radio front end circuitry 112 comprise one or morefilters 118 and amplifiers 116. Radio front end circuitry 114 isconnected to antenna 111 and processing circuitry 120, and is configuredto condition signals communicated between antenna 111 and processingcircuitry 120. Radio front end circuitry 112 may be coupled to or a partof antenna 111. In some embodiments, WD 110 may not include separateradio front end circuitry 112; rather, processing circuitry 120 maycomprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 111.Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry122 may be considered a part of interface 114. Radio front end circuitry112 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other networknodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 112may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriatechannel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 118and/or amplifiers 116. The radio signal may then be transmitted viaantenna 111. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 111 may collectradio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio frontend circuitry 112. The digital data may be passed to processingcircuitry 120. In other embodiments, the interface may comprisedifferent components and/or different combinations of components.

Processing circuitry 120 may comprise a combination of one or more of amicroprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit,digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, fieldprogrammable gate array, or any other suitable computing device,resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logicoperable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other WD 110components, such as device readable medium 130, WD 110 functionality.Such functionality may include providing any of the various wirelessfeatures or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry120 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 130 or inmemory within processing circuitry 120 to provide the functionalitydisclosed herein.

As illustrated, processing circuitry 120 includes one or more of RFtransceiver circuitry 122, baseband processing circuitry 124, andapplication processing circuitry 126. In other embodiments, theprocessing circuitry may comprise different components and/or differentcombinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry120 of WD 110 may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceivercircuitry 122, baseband processing circuitry 124, and applicationprocessing circuitry 126 may be on separate chips or sets of chips. Inalternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry124 and application processing circuitry 126 may be combined into onechip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 122 may be on aseparate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part orall of RF transceiver circuitry 122 and baseband processing circuitry124 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processingcircuitry 126 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet otheralternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 122,baseband processing circuitry 124, and application processing circuitry126 may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In someembodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 122 may be a part of interface114. RF transceiver circuitry 122 may condition RF signals forprocessing circuitry 120.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality describedherein as being performed by a WD may be provided by processingcircuitry 120 executing instructions stored on device readable medium130, which in certain embodiments may be a computer-readable storagemedium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality maybe provided by processing circuitry 120 without executing instructionsstored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium, such asin a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whetherexecuting instructions stored on a device readable storage medium ornot, processing circuitry 120 can be configured to perform the describedfunctionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are notlimited to processing circuitry 120 alone or to other components of WD110, but are enjoyed by WD 110 as a whole, and/or by end users and thewireless network generally.

Processing circuitry 120 may be configured to perform any determining,calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations)described herein as being performed by a WD. These operations, asperformed by processing circuitry 120, may include processinginformation obtained by processing circuitry 120 by, for example,converting the obtained information into other information, comparingthe obtained information or converted information to information storedby WD 110, and/or performing one or more operations based on theobtained information or converted information, and as a result of saidprocessing making a determination.

Device readable medium 130 may be operable to store a computer program,software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code,tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed byprocessing circuitry 120. Device readable medium 130 may includecomputer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory(ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media(e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or anyother volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/orcomputer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/orinstructions that may be used by processing circuitry 120. In someembodiments, processing circuitry 120 and device readable medium 130 maybe considered to be integrated.

User interface equipment 132 may provide components that allow for ahuman user to interact with WD 110. Such interaction may be of manyforms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment132 may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the userto provide input to WD 110. The type of interaction may vary dependingon the type of user interface equipment 132 installed in WD 110. Forexample, if WD 110 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touchscreen; if WD 110 is a smart meter, the interaction may be through ascreen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or aspeaker that provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected).User interface equipment 132 may include input interfaces, devices andcircuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interfaceequipment 132 is configured to allow input of information into WD 110,and is connected to processing circuitry 120 to allow processingcircuitry 120 to process the input information. User interface equipment132 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity or other sensor,keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or otherinput circuitry. User interface equipment 132 is also configured toallow output of information from WD 110, and to allow processingcircuitry 120 to output information from WD 110. User interfaceequipment 132 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibratingcircuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry.Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, ofuser interface equipment 132, WD 110 may communicate with end usersand/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit from thefunctionality described herein.

Auxiliary equipment 134 is operable to provide more specificfunctionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This maycomprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for variouspurposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wiredcommunications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliaryequipment 134 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.

Power source 136 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a batteryor battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external powersource (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or powercells, may also be used. WD 110 may further comprise power circuitry 137for delivering power from power source 136 to the various parts of WD110 which need power from power source 136 to carry out anyfunctionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry 137 may incertain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry137 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power froman external power source; in which case WD 110 may be connectable to theexternal power source (such as an electricity outlet) via inputcircuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Powercircuitry 137 may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliverpower from an external power source to power source 136. This may be,for example, for the charging of power source 136. Power circuitry 137may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to thepower from power source 136 to make the power suitable for therespective components of WD 110 to which power is supplied.

FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with variousaspects described herein. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may notnecessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/oroperates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device thatis intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which maynot, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific humanuser (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE mayrepresent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, anend user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit ofa user (e.g., a smart power meter). UE 2200 may be any UE identified bythe 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE,a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.UE 200, as illustrated in FIG. 10, is one example of a WD configured forcommunication in accordance with one or more communication standardspromulgated by the 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as3GPP's GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards. As mentioned previously, theterm WD and UE may be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although FIG.10 is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to aWD, and vice-versa.

In FIG. 10, UE 200 includes processing circuitry 201 that is operativelycoupled to input/output interface 205, radio frequency (RF) interface209, network connection interface 211, memory 215 including randomaccess memory (RAM) 217, read-only memory (ROM) 219, and storage medium221 or the like, communication subsystem 231, power source 233, and/orany other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 221includes operating system 223, application program 225, and data 227. Inother embodiments, storage medium 221 may include other similar types ofinformation. Certain UEs may utilize all of the components shown in FIG.10, or only a subset of the components. The level of integration betweenthe components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEsmay contain multiple instances of a component, such as multipleprocessors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

In FIG. 10, processing circuitry 201 may be configured to processcomputer instructions and data. Processing circuitry 201 may beconfigured to implement any sequential state machine operative toexecute machine instructions stored as machine-readable computerprograms in the memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented statemachines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logictogether with appropriate firmware; one or more stored program,general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital SignalProcessor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combinationof the above. For example, the processing circuitry 201 may include twocentral processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a formsuitable for use by a computer.

In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface 205 may be configuredto provide a communication interface to an input device, output device,or input and output device. UE 200 may be configured to use an outputdevice via input/output interface 205. An output device may use the sametype of interface port as an input device. For example, a USB port maybe used to provide input to and output from UE 200. The output devicemay be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, aprinter, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, orany combination thereof. UE 200 may be configured to use an input devicevia input/output interface 205 to allow a user to capture informationinto UE 200. The input device may include a touch-sensitive orpresence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digitalvideo camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, atrackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard,and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive orresistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, forinstance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor,a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another likesensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device may bean accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and anoptical sensor.

In FIG. 10, RF interface 209 may be configured to provide acommunication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, areceiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface 211 may beconfigured to provide a communication interface to network 243 a.Network 243 a may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as alocal-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network,a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like networkor any combination thereof. For example, network 243 a may comprise aWi-Fi network. Network connection interface 211 may be configured toinclude a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate withone or more other devices over a communication network according to oneor more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM,or the like. Network connection interface 211 may implement receiver andtransmitter functionality appropriate to the communication network links(e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter and receiverfunctions may share circuit components, software or firmware, oralternatively may be implemented separately.

RAM 217 may be configured to interface via bus 202 to processingcircuitry 201 to provide storage or caching of data or computerinstructions during the execution of software programs such as theoperating system, application programs, and device drivers. ROM 219 maybe configured to provide computer instructions or data to processingcircuitry 201. For example, ROM 219 may be configured to store invariantlow-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basicinput and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from akeyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory. Storage medium 221may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmableread-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magneticdisks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, orflash drives. In one example, storage medium 221 may be configured toinclude operating system 223, application program 225 such as a webbrowser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application,and data file 227. Storage medium 221 may store, for use by UE 200, anyof a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operatingsystems.

Storage medium 221 may be configured to include a number of physicaldrive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppydisk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive,thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc(HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray opticaldisc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive,external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcardmemory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity(SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storagemedium 221 may allow UE 200 to access computer-executable instructions,application programs or the like, stored on transitory or non-transitorymemory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article ofmanufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may betangibly embodied in storage medium 221, which may comprise a devicereadable medium.

In FIG. 10, processing circuitry 201 may be configured to communicatewith network 243 b using communication subsystem 231. Network 243 a andnetwork 243 b may be the same network or networks or different networkor networks. Communication subsystem 231 may be configured to includeone or more transceivers used to communicate with network 243 b. Forexample, communication subsystem 231 may be configured to include one ormore transceivers used to communicate with one or more remotetransceivers of another device capable of wireless communication such asanother WD, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN)according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.2,CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver mayinclude transmitter 233 and/or receiver 235 to implement transmitter orreceiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links(e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter 233 andreceiver 235 of each transceiver may share circuit components, softwareor firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions ofcommunication subsystem 231 may include data communication, voicecommunication, multimedia communication, short-range communications suchas Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communicationsuch as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine alocation, another like communication function, or any combinationthereof. For example, communication subsystem 231 may include cellularcommunication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPScommunication. Network 243 b may encompass wired and/or wirelessnetworks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN),a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network,another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network243 b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-fieldnetwork. Power source 213 may be configured to provide alternatingcurrent (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE 200.

The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may beimplemented in one of the components of UE 200 or partitioned acrossmultiple components of UE 200. Further, the features, benefits, and/orfunctions described herein may be implemented in any combination ofhardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystem231 may be configured to include any of the components described herein.Further, processing circuitry 201 may be configured to communicate withany of such components over bus 202. In another example, any of suchcomponents may be represented by program instructions stored in memorythat when executed by processing circuitry 201 perform the correspondingfunctions described herein. In another example, the functionality of anyof such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry 201and communication subsystem 231. In another example, thenon-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may beimplemented in software or firmware and the computationally intensivefunctions may be implemented in hardware.

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualizationenvironment 300 in which functions implemented by some embodiments maybe virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creatingvirtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may includevirtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networkingresources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node(e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) orto a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device or any other type ofcommunication device) or components thereof and relates to animplementation in which at least a portion of the functionality isimplemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or moreapplications, components, functions, virtual machines or containersexecuting on one or more physical processing nodes in one or morenetworks).

In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein maybe implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtualmachines implemented in one or more virtual environments 300 hosted byone or more of hardware nodes 330. Further, in embodiments in which thevirtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radioconnectivity (e.g., a core network node), then the network node may beentirely virtualized.

The functions may be implemented by one or more applications 320 (whichmay alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances,network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.)operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefitsof some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications 320 are run invirtualization environment 300 which provides hardware 330 comprisingprocessing circuitry 360 and memory 390. Memory 390 containsinstructions 395 executable by processing circuitry 360 wherebyapplication 320 is operative to provide one or more of the features,benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

Virtualization environment 300, comprises general-purpose orspecial-purpose network hardware devices 330 comprising a set of one ormore processors or processing circuitry 360, which may be commercialoff-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application SpecificIntegrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitryincluding digital or analog hardware components or special purposeprocessors. Each hardware device may comprise memory 390-1 which may benon-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 395 orsoftware executed by processing circuitry 360. Each hardware device maycomprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 370, alsoknown as network interface cards, which include physical networkinterface 380. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory,persistent, machine-readable storage media 390-2 having stored thereinsoftware 395 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry 360.Software 395 may include any type of software including software forinstantiating one or more virtualization layers 350 (also referred to ashypervisors), software to execute virtual machines 340 as well assoftware allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefitsdescribed in relation with some embodiments described herein.

Virtual machines 340, comprise virtual processing, virtual memory,virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by acorresponding virtualization layer 350 or hypervisor. Differentembodiments of the instance of virtual appliance 320 may be implementedon one or more of virtual machines 340, and the implementations may bemade in different ways.

During operation, processing circuitry 360 executes software 395 toinstantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 350, which maysometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM).Virtualization layer 350 may present a virtual operating platform thatappears like networking hardware to virtual machine 340.

As shown in FIG. 11, hardware 330 may be a standalone network node withgeneric or specific components. Hardware 330 may comprise antenna 3225and may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively,hardware 330 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such asin a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE)) where manyhardware nodes work together and are managed via management andorchestration (MANO) 3100, which, among others, oversees lifecyclemanagement of applications 320.

Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to asnetwork function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidatemany network equipment types onto industry standard high volume serverhardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be locatedin data centers, and customer premise equipment.

In the context of NFV, virtual machine 340 may be a softwareimplementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they wereexecuting on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of virtualmachines 340, and that part of hardware 330 that executes that virtualmachine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/orhardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtualmachines 340, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE).

Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) isresponsible for handling specific network functions that run in one ormore virtual machines 340 on top of hardware networking infrastructure330 and corresponds to application 320 in FIG. 11.

In some embodiments, one or more radio units 3200 that each include oneor more transmitters 3220 and one or more receivers 3210 may be coupledto one or more antennas 3225. Radio units 3200 may communicate directlywith hardware nodes 330 via one or more appropriate network interfacesand may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide avirtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or abase station.

In some embodiments, some signalling can be effected with the use ofcontrol system 3230 which may alternatively be used for communicationbetween the hardware nodes 330 and radio units 3200.

With reference to FIG. 12, in accordance with an embodiment, acommunication system includes telecommunication network 410, such as a3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises access network 411, such asa radio access network, and core network 414. Access network 411comprises a plurality of base stations 412 a, 412 b, 412 c, such as NBs,eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining acorresponding coverage area 413 a, 413 b, 413 c. Each base station 412a, 412 b, 412 c is connectable to core network 414 over a wired orwireless connection 415. A first UE 491 located in coverage area 413 cis configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, thecorresponding base station 412 c. A second UE 492 in coverage area 413 ais wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 412 a. Whilea plurality of UEs 491, 492 are illustrated in this example, thedisclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a soleUE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to thecorresponding base station 412.

Telecommunication network 410 is itself connected to host computer 430,which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standaloneserver, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or asprocessing resources in a server farm. Host computer 430 may be underthe ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated bythe service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Connections421 and 422 between telecommunication network 410 and host computer 430may extend directly from core network 414 to host computer 430 or may govia an optional intermediate network 420. Intermediate network 420 maybe one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private orhosted network; intermediate network 420, if any, may be a backbonenetwork or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network 420 maycomprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

The communication system of FIG. 12 as a whole enables connectivitybetween the connected UEs 491, 492 and host computer 430. Theconnectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 450.Host computer 430 and the connected UEs 491, 492 are configured tocommunicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection 450, using accessnetwork 411, core network 414, any intermediate network 420 and possiblefurther infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection 450may be transparent in the sense that the participating communicationdevices through which OTT connection 450 passes are unaware of routingof uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station 412 maynot or need not be informed about the past routing of an incomingdownlink communication with data originating from host computer 430 tobe forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 491. Similarly, basestation 412 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoinguplink communication originating from the UE 491 towards the hostcomputer 430.

Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE,base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphswill now be described with reference to FIG. 13. In communication system500, host computer 510 comprises hardware 515 including communicationinterface 516 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wirelessconnection with an interface of a different communication device ofcommunication system 500. Host computer 510 further comprises processingcircuitry 518, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. Inparticular, processing circuitry 518 may comprise one or moreprogrammable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, fieldprogrammable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted toexecute instructions. Host computer 510 further comprises software 511,which is stored in or accessible by host computer 510 and executable byprocessing circuitry 518. Software 511 includes host application 512.Host application 512 may be operable to provide a service to a remoteuser, such as UE 530 connecting via OTT connection 550 terminating at UE530 and host computer 510. In providing the service to the remote user,host application 512 may provide user data which is transmitted usingOTT connection 550.

Communication system 500 further includes base station 520 provided in atelecommunication system and comprising hardware 525 enabling it tocommunicate with host computer 510 and with UE 530. Hardware 525 mayinclude communication interface 526 for setting up and maintaining awired or wireless connection with an interface of a differentcommunication device of communication system 500, as well as radiointerface 527 for setting up and maintaining at least wirelessconnection 570 with UE 530 located in a coverage area (not shown in FIG.13) served by base station 520. Communication interface 526 may beconfigured to facilitate connection 560 to host computer 510. Connection560 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown inFIG. 13) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or moreintermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In theembodiment shown, hardware 525 of base station 520 further includesprocessing circuitry 528, which may comprise one or more programmableprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmablegate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to executeinstructions. Base station 520 further has software 521 storedinternally or accessible via an external connection.

Communication system 500 further includes UE 530 already referred to.Its hardware 535 may include radio interface 537 configured to set upand maintain wireless connection 570 with a base station serving acoverage area in which UE 530 is currently located. Hardware 535 of UE530 further includes processing circuitry 538, which may comprise one ormore programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits,field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown)adapted to execute instructions. UE 530 further comprises software 531,which is stored in or accessible by UE 530 and executable by processingcircuitry 538. Software 531 includes client application 532. Clientapplication 532 may be operable to provide a service to a human ornon-human user via UE 530, with the support of host computer 510. Inhost computer 510, an executing host application 512 may communicatewith the executing client application 532 via OTT connection 550terminating at UE 530 and host computer 510. In providing the service tothe user, client application 532 may receive request data from hostapplication 512 and provide user data in response to the request data.OTT connection 550 may transfer both the request data and the user data.Client application 532 may interact with the user to generate the userdata that it provides.

It is noted that host computer 510, base station 520 and UE 530illustrated in FIG. 13 may be similar or identical to host computer 430,one of base stations 412 a, 412 b, 412 c and one of UEs 491, 492 of FIG.12, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entitiesmay be as shown in FIG. 13 and independently, the surrounding networktopology may be that of FIG. 12.

In FIG. 13, OTT connection 550 has been drawn abstractly to illustratethe communication between host computer 510 and UE 530 via base station520, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and theprecise routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructuremay determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from UE530 or from the service provider operating host computer 510, or both.While OTT connection 550 is active, the network infrastructure mayfurther take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing(e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfigurationof the network).

Wireless connection 570 between UE 530 and base station 520 is inaccordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve theperformance of OTT services provided to UE 530 using OTT connection 550,in which wireless connection 570 forms the last segment. More precisely,the teachings of these embodiments may improve latency and therebyprovide benefits such as reduced user waiting time and betterresponsiveness.

A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoringdata rate, latency and other factors on which the one or moreembodiments improve. There may further be an optional networkfunctionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 550 between host computer510 and UE 530, in response to variations in the measurement results.The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality forreconfiguring OTT connection 550 may be implemented in software 511 andhardware 515 of host computer 510 or in software 531 and hardware 535 ofUE 530, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed inor in association with communication devices through which OTTconnection 550 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurementprocedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplifiedabove, or supplying values of other physical quantities from whichsoftware 511, 531 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. Thereconfiguring of OTT connection 550 may include message format,retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring neednot affect base station 520, and it may be unknown or imperceptible tobase station 520. Such procedures and functionalities may be known andpracticed in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involveproprietary UE signaling facilitating host computer 510's measurementsof throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurementsmay be implemented in that software 511 and 531 causes messages to betransmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTTconnection 550 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 14will be included in this section. In step 610, the host computerprovides user data. In substep 611 (which may be optional) of step 610,the host computer provides the user data by executing a hostapplication. In step 620, the host computer initiates a transmissioncarrying the user data to the UE. In step 630 (which may be optional),the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried inthe transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance withthe teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.In step 640 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a clientapplication associated with the host application executed by the hostcomputer.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 15will be included in this section. In step 710 of the method, the hostcomputer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the hostcomputer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step720, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user datato the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordancewith the teachings of the embodiments described throughout thisdisclosure. In step 730 (which may be optional), the UE receives theuser data carried in the transmission.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 16will be included in this section. In step 810 (which may be optional),the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionallyor alternatively, in step 820, the UE provides user data. In substep 821(which may be optional) of step 820, the UE provides the user data byexecuting a client application. In substep 811 (which may be optional)of step 810, the UE executes a client application which provides theuser data in reaction to the received input data provided by the hostcomputer. In providing the user data, the executed client applicationmay further consider user input received from the user. Regardless ofthe specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UEinitiates, in substep 830 (which may be optional), transmission of theuser data to the host computer. In step 840 of the method, the hostcomputer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, in accordancewith the teachings of the embodiments described throughout thisdisclosure.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 17will be included in this section. In step 910 (which may be optional),in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. Instep 920 (which may be optional), the base station initiatestransmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 930(which may be optional), the host computer receives the user datacarried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefitsdisclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional unitsor modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatusmay comprise a number of these functional units. These functional unitsmay be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one ormore microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digitalhardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs),special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitrymay be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which mayinclude one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, opticalstorage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes programinstructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or datacommunications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one ormore of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, theprocessing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unitto perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 18 depicts a method in accordance with particular embodiments. Themethod may be performed by a wireless device (such as a UE). The methodbegins at step 1802 with a detecting a triggering event related to aprocedure in which the wireless device relies on downlink beam selectionand may require a network to update resources related to a radio linkmanagement configuration and/or parameters related to beam management.Examples of such events connection re-establishment or resume,handovers, conditional handovers, SCG changes, and SCG addition,including the case of EN-DC where the added/changed SCG is an NR celland the MCG PCell is an LTE cell, and beam recovery. Examples oftriggering events include receipt of HO command (see e.g., FIG. 4),receipt of conditional HO command (see e.g., FIG. 5), determination toperform a RACH fallback procedure (see e.g., FIG. 6), detection of beamfailure toward source cell (see e.g., FIG. 7), and detection of changesin beam measurements (see e.g., FIG. 8). The method proceeds to step1804 with, in response to detecting the triggering event, triggeringsending of one or more beam/cell reports to the network. Further detailsrelated to sending the one or more beam/cell reports to the network arefurther described above (see e.g., pp. 12-15, including the headingsMessage to the target in which these measurements are reported; Whichexact measurements are reported; How the UE decides which measurementsto be included in the measurement report to target upon accessing; andHow the UE performs these measurements to be included in the measurementreport to target upon accessing). In certain embodiments the beam/cellreports provide measurements for a set of beams (e.g., the set includesone or more beams that are not the best beam and optionally includes thebest beam).

FIG. 19 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1900 in awireless network (for example, the wireless network shown in FIG. 9).The apparatus may be implemented in a wireless device (e.g., wirelessdevice 110 in FIG. 9). Apparatus 1900 is operable to carry out theexample method described with reference to FIG. 18 and possibly anyother processes or methods disclosed herein. It is also to be understoodthat the method of FIG. 18 is not necessarily carried out solely byapparatus 1900. At least some operations of the method can be performedby one or more other entities.

Virtual Apparatus 1900 may comprise processing circuitry, which mayinclude one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as otherdigital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs),special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitrymay be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which mayinclude one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, opticalstorage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes programinstructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or datacommunications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one ormore of the techniques described herein, in several embodiments. In someimplementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause EventDetection Unit 1902, Beam/Cell Monitoring Unit 1904, Reporting Unit1906, and any other suitable units of apparatus 1900 to performcorresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 19, apparatus 1900 includes Event Detection Unit1902, Beam/Cell Monitoring Unit 1904, and Reporting Unit 1906. EventDetection Unit 1902 is configured to detect a triggering event relatedto a procedure in which the wireless device relies on downlink beamselection and may require a network to update resources related to aradio link management configuration and/or parameters related to beammanagement. Beam/Cell Monitoring Unit 1904 is configured tomonitor/perform measurements on beams/cells received by the wirelessdevice. Reporting Unit 1906 is configured to report the measurementscollected by beam/cell monitoring unit 1904 to the network. As oneexample, Reporting Unit 1906 may include beam/cell reports in a Msg 3 orin a handover complete message to a target node as part of a handoverprocedure.

The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics,electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may include, forexample, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules,processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices,computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks,procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and soon, as such as those that are described herein.

SAMPLE EMBODIMENTS Group A Embodiments

-   -   1. A method performed by a wireless device, the method        comprising:        -   detecting a triggering event related to a procedure in which            the wireless device relies on downlink beam selection and            may require a network to update resources related to a radio            link management configuration and/or parameters related to            beam management; and        -   in response to detecting the triggering event, triggering            sending of one or more beam/cell reports to the network.    -   2. The method of the previous embodiment, wherein the triggering        event relates to a procedure for a handover to a target node and        the triggering event triggers sending the one or more beam/cell        reports to the target node.    -   3. The method of example embodiment 2, wherein triggering event        corresponds to receipt of a handover command.    -   4. The method of example embodiment 2, wherein the triggering        event corresponds to receipt of a conditional handover command.    -   5. The method of example embodiment 2, wherein the triggering        event comprises detection of changes in beam measurements of the        target node's beams after receipt of a handover command or a        conditional handover command.    -   6. The method of embodiment 2, wherein the triggering event        corresponds to determining to perform a RACH fallback procedure        after sending a random access attempt to the target node and not        receiving a random access response within a random access        response window.    -   7. The method of any of embodiments 2-6, wherein the one or more        beam/cell reports are sent after receiving a random access        response from the target node.    -   8. The method of embodiment 7, wherein the one or more beam/cell        reports are included in Msg 3 of a random access procedure with        the target node or in a handover complete message.    -   9. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the triggering event        relates to a procedure for connection re-establishment or beam        recovery.    -   10. The method of embodiment 9, wherein the triggering event        corresponds to detection of beam failure towards a source node.    -   11. The method of any of the previous embodiments, wherein the        one or more beam/cell reports indicate measurements associated        with a set of downlink beams, wherein at least one of the        downlink beams in the set is not a best beam.    -   12. The method of any of the previous embodiments, wherein the        beam/cell reports provide measurement information associated to        SS/PBCH blocks, measurement information associated to CSI-RS        resources, or both.    -   13. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further        comprising determining which types of events to configure as        triggering events.    -   14. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further        comprising determining which message to use to send the one or        more beam/cell reports.    -   15. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further        comprising determining which measurements to report in the one        or more beam/cell reports.    -   16. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further        comprising determining which measurements to be included in the        one or more beam/cell reports to target upon accessing.    -   17. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further        comprising performing measurements to be included in the one or        more beam/cell reports to target upon accessing.    -   18. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further        comprising:        -   providing user data; and        -   forwarding the user data to a host computer via the            transmission to the base station.

Group B Embodiments

-   -   19. A method performed by a target base station, the method        comprising:        -   receiving one or more beam/cell reports from a wireless            device during a handover procedure from a source base            station;        -   in response to receiving the one or more beam/cell reports            from the wireless device, updating resources related to a            radio link management configuration and/or parameters            related to beam management.    -   20. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or more beam/cell        reports is received in a Msg 3 of a random access procedure with        the wireless device or in a handover complete message.    -   21. A method performed by a base station, the method comprising:        -   receiving one or more beam/cell reports from a wireless            device during a connection re-establishment or beam recovery            procedure;        -   in response to receiving the one or more beam/cell reports            from the wireless device, updating resources related to a            radio link management configuration and/or parameters            related to beam management.    -   22. The method of any of the previous embodiments, wherein the        one or more beam/cell reports indicate measurements associated        with a set of downlink beams, wherein at least one of the        downlink beams in the set is not a best beam.    -   23. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further        comprising:        -   obtaining user data; and        -   forwarding the user data to a host computer or a wireless            device.

Group C Embodiments

-   -   24. A wireless device, the wireless device comprising:        -   processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps            of any of the Group A embodiments; and        -   power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the            wireless device.    -   25. A base station, the base station comprising:        -   processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps            of any of the Group B embodiments;        -   power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the            wireless device.    -   26. A user equipment (UE), the UE comprising:        -   an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals;        -   radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to            processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals            communicated between the antenna and the processing            circuitry;        -   the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of            the steps of any of the Group A embodiments;        -   an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and            configured to allow input of information into the UE to be            processed by the processing circuitry;        -   an output interface connected to the processing circuitry            and configured to output information from the UE that has            been processed by the processing circuitry; and        -   a battery connected to the processing circuitry and            configured to supply power to the UE.    -   27. A communication system including a host computer comprising:        -   processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and        -   a communication interface configured to forward the user            data to a cellular network for transmission to a user            equipment (UE),        -   wherein the cellular network comprises a base station having            a radio interface and processing circuitry, the base            station's processing circuitry configured to perform any of            the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.    -   28. The communication system of the pervious embodiment further        including the base station.    -   29. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments,        further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to        communicate with the base station.    -   30. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments,        wherein:        -   the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured            to execute a host application, thereby providing the user            data; and        -   the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute            a client application associated with the host application.    -   31. A method implemented in a communication system including a        host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the        method comprising:        -   at the host computer, providing user data; and        -   at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the            user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the            base station, wherein the base station performs any of the            steps of any of the Group B embodiments.    -   32. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising,        at the base station, transmitting the user data.    -   33. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the user        data is provided at the host computer by executing a host        application, the method further comprising, at the UE, executing        a client application associated with the host application.    -   34. A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a base        station, the UE comprising a radio interface and processing        circuitry configured to performs the of the previous 3        embodiments.    -   35. A communication system including a host computer comprising:        -   processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and        -   a communication interface configured to forward user data to            a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment            (UE),        -   wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and processing            circuitry, the UE's components configured to perform any of            the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.    -   36. The communication system of the previous embodiment, wherein        the cellular network further includes a base station configured        to communicate with the UE.    -   37. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments,        wherein:        -   the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured            to execute a host application, thereby providing the user            data; and        -   the UE's processing circuitry is configured to execute a            client application associated with the host application.    -   38. A method implemented in a communication system including a        host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the        method comprising:        -   at the host computer, providing user data; and        -   at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the            user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the            base station, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of            any of the Group A embodiments.    -   39. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at        the UE, receiving the user data from the base station.    -   40. A communication system including a host computer comprising:        -   communication interface configured to receive user data            originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE)            to a base station,        -   wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and processing            circuitry, the UE's processing circuitry configured to            perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.    -   41. The communication system of the previous embodiment, further        including the UE.    -   42. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments,        further including the base station, wherein the base station        comprises a radio interface configured to communicate with the        UE and a communication interface configured to forward to the        host computer the user data carried by a transmission from the        UE to the base station.    -   43. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments,        wherein:        -   the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured            to execute a host application; and        -   the UE's processing circuitry is configured to execute a            client application associated with the host application,            thereby providing the user data.    -   44. The communication system of the previous 4 embodiments,        wherein:        -   the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured            to execute a host application, thereby providing request            data; and        -   the UE's processing circuitry is configured to execute a            client application associated with the host application,            thereby providing the user data in response to the request            data.    -   45. A method implemented in a communication system including a        host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the        method comprising:        -   at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted to the            base station from the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the            steps of any of the Group A embodiments.    -   46. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising,        at the UE, providing the user data to the base station.    -   47. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further        comprising:        -   at the UE, executing a client application, thereby providing            the user data to be transmitted; and        -   at the host computer, executing a host application            associated with the client application.    -   48. The method of the previous 3 embodiments, further        comprising:        -   at the UE, executing a client application; and        -   at the UE, receiving input data to the client application,            the input data being provided at the host computer by            executing a host application associated with the client            application,        -   wherein the user data to be transmitted is provided by the            client application in response to the input data.    -   49. A communication system including a host computer comprising        a communication interface configured to receive user data        originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a        base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio        interface and processing circuitry, the base station's        processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of        any of the Group B embodiments.    -   50. The communication system of the previous embodiment further        including the base station.    -   51. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments,        further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to        communicate with the base station.    -   52. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments,        wherein:        -   the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured            to execute a host application;        -   the UE is configured to execute a client application            associated with the host application, thereby providing the            user data to be received by the host computer.    -   53. A method implemented in a communication system including a        host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the        method comprising:        -   at the host computer, receiving, from the base station, user            data originating from a transmission which the base station            has received from the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the            steps of any of the Group A embodiments.    -   54. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at        the base station, receiving the user data from the UE.    -   55. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising        at the base station, initiating a transmission of the received        user data to the host computer.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example flowchart diagram of a method 900 for usein a wireless device, such as wireless device 110, 200, 330, 491, 492,or 530 described above. At step 920, the wireless device detects atriggering event related to a procedure for a handover from a sourcenetwork node to a target network node in which the wireless devicerelies on downlink beam selection. For example, the triggering event mayinclude receiving a handover command from the source network node orreceiving a conditional handover command and/or determining that theconditions for handover have been met. In this manner, the wirelessdevice may only send the measurement information if it is needed, e.g.,because the triggering event indicates that downlink beam measurementsare needed, or other criteria as discussed herein. In some embodiments,the wireless device determines which triggering events to detect, e.g.,using implicit or explicit configuration information from the network.

In some embodiments, detecting the triggering event comprisesdetermining that at least one beam measurement changed after reportingthe beam measurement to the source network node. For example, this mayinclude determining that a strongest beam has changed and/or that apower, a quality, or an interference associated with the at least onebeam has changed. Accordingly, the message including the measurementinformation may indicate to the target network node that the at leastone beam measurement has changed.

In some embodiments, the triggering event corresponds to determining toperform a RACH fallback procedure after sending a random-access attemptto the target node and not receiving a random-access response within arandom-access response window. For example, during a handover procedure,if the wireless device does not receive a random-access response, thatmay indicate that the RACH fallback procedure must be used. It mayfurther indicate that the beam measurement information at the targetnode may be out of date, thereby indicating to the wireless device tosend measurement information that is more current.

At step 940, the wireless device determines measurement information toinclude in a message to send to the target network node. The measurementinformation may be obtained by measuring one or more beams according toone of a radio link management configuration, a beam managementconfiguration, and a measurement configuration. For example, thewireless device may determine what measurement information to includeand/or what message to use to send the measurement information accordingto the embodiments disclosed in sections “Which measurements arereported” and “How the UE decides which measurements to be included inthe measurement report to target upon accessing” above. In someembodiments, determining the measurement information may be according toa previously received configuration from the source network node. Insome embodiments, determining the measurement information includesperforming beam measurements to be included in the message, e.g., inaccordance to the configuration information received form the sourcenode.

At step 960, the wireless device, in response to detecting thetriggering event, sends the determined measurement information in themessage to the target network node. As described above, the measurementinformation may be sent in any suitable message, e.g., the handovercomplete message, a Msg3 in a random-access procedure, etc. In someembodiment, the message indicates measurements associated with a set ofdownlink beams, where at least one of the downlink beams in the set isnot a best beam. For example, the measurements may be associated withmore than just a single beam. In this manner, the wireless device mayprovide the most up-to-date measurement information for the targetnetwork node.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example flowchart diagram of a method 1000 foruse in a wireless device, such as wireless device 110, 200, 330, 491,492, or 530 described above. At step 1020, the wireless device detectsdetecting a triggering event related to a procedure for connectionre-establishment or beam recovery to a network node in which thewireless device relies on downlink beam selection. This differs frommethod 900 in that the triggering event is not related to a handoverprocedure. For example, in certain embodiments, the triggering eventcorresponds to a detection of beam failure towards a source networknode. In this manner, the wireless device may determine that an updateto the measurement information may be warranted, e.g., because it hasbeen too long since it last connected with the network node or if thebeam failed, then there may be better beams to use.

At step 1040, the wireless device determines measurement information toinclude in a message to send to the network node. The measurementinformation may be obtained by measuring one or more beams according toone of a radio link management configuration, a beam managementconfiguration, and a measurement configuration. At step 1060, inresponse to detecting the triggering event, the wireless device sendsthe determined measurement information in the message to the networknode. How the measurement information may be determined and sent to thenetwork node may be described in reference to the previously describedembodiments, including with reference to method 900 above.

FIG. 22 illustrates an example flowchart diagram of a method 1100 foruse in a network node, such as network node 160, 330, 412, or 520described above. Method 1100 may begin at step 1120, wherein beaminformation obtained from a source network node during a handoverprocedure of a wireless device from the source network node to thetarget network node is used. For example, the network node may use thebeam information to contact the wireless device to initiate or continuethe handover procedure.

At step 1140, the network node receives a message comprising measurementinformation from a wireless device during the handover procedure fromthe source network node. For example, the network node may receive themessage as described in FIGS. 9 and 10 above. In some embodiments, thenetwork node receives the message comprising measurement informationfrom the wireless device before the network node sends any beammeasurement configuration request to the wireless device. In thismanner, the network node may adjust the configuration informationwithout sending the request, thereby reducing the time using out-of-dateconfigurations. The message may be received in any suitable messageafter the wireless device is triggered, e.g., in a Msg3 of arandom-access procedure with the wireless device or in a handovercomplete message.

At step 1160, in response to receiving the message comprisingmeasurement information from the wireless device, the network nodeupdates resources related to one of a radio link managementconfiguration, a beam management configuration, and a measurementconfiguration. For example, it may update a set of beams to beconfigured for the wireless device, including changing what beams areincluded in the set or which is the best beam for downlink.

At step 1180, the network node may communicate with the wireless deviceusing the updated resources related one of the radio link managementconfiguration, the beam management configuration, and the measurementconfiguration. For example, the network node may change what downlinkbeams it uses to communicate with the wireless device or may changewhich beams the wireless device is configured for measurement and/oruse. In this manner, the network node may adjust the configuration usingup-to-date measurements from the wireless device without having torequest those measurements after the handover procedure is completed.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example flowchart diagram of a method 1200 foruse in a network node, such as network node 160, 330, 412, or 520described above. Method 1200 may begin at step 1220, wherein the networknode receives a message comprising measurement information from awireless device during a connection re-establishment or beam recoveryprocedure. This differs from FIG. 22 in that the measurement informationis not received during a handover procedure but during a connectionre-establishment or beam recovery procedure. The wireless device may beconfigured to trigger sending the message in these scenarios for thereasons described previously.

Steps 1240 and 1260 correspond to similar steps 1160 and 1180 of method1100 depicted in FIG. 22. Similar to FIG. 22, at step 1240, the networknode may, in response to receiving the message comprising measurementinformation from the wireless device, update resources related to one ofa radio link management configuration, a beam management configuration,and a measurement configuration. At step 1260, the network node maycommunicate with the wireless device using the updated resources relatedone of the radio link management configuration, the beam managementconfiguration, and the measurement configuration. Method 1200 may differbased on the different triggering condition, which may have an effect onwhat measurement information is received by the network node and how thenetwork node continues communicating with the wireless device.

Although the present disclosure has been described with severalembodiments, a myriad of changes, variations, alterations,transformations, and modifications may be suggested to one skilled inthe art, and it is intended that the present disclosure encompass suchchanges, variations, alterations, transformations, and modifications asfall within the scope of the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a wireless device ina network, the method comprising: detecting a triggering event relatedto a procedure for a handover from a source network node to a targetnetwork node in which the wireless device relies on downlink beamselection; determining measurement information to include in a messageto send to the target network node, the measurement information obtainedby measuring one or more beams according to at least one of a radio linkmanagement configuration, a beam management configuration, and ameasurement configuration; and in response to detecting the triggeringevent, sending the determined measurement information in the message tothe target network node; wherein detecting the triggering eventcomprises determining that at least one beam measurement chanted afterreporting the beam measurement to the source network node.
 2. A wirelessdevice comprising: a memory configured to store instructions; andprocessing circuitry configured to execute the instructions; wherein theprocessing circuitry is configured to: detect a triggering event relatedto a procedure for a handover from a source network node to a targetnetwork node in which the wireless device relies on downlink beamselection; determine measurement information to include in a message tosend to the target network node, the measurement information obtained bymeasuring one or more beams according to at least one of a radio linkmanagement configuration, a beam management configuration, and ameasurement configuration; and in response to detecting the triggeringevent, send the determined measurement information in the message to thetarget network node; wherein detecting the triggering event comprisesdetermining that at least one beam measurement chanted after reportingthe beam measurement to the source network node.
 3. The wireless deviceof claim 2, wherein the triggering event corresponds to receipt of ahandover command or a conditional handover command.
 4. The wirelessdevice of claim 2, wherein: the message including the measurementinformation indicates to the target network node that the at least onebeam measurement has changed, wherein the message is sent to the targetnetwork node prior to completing the handover procedure.
 5. The wirelessdevice of claim 2, wherein determining that at least one beammeasurement has changed comprises one or more of: determining that astrongest beam has changed; and determining that a power, a quality, oran interference associated with the at least one beam has changed. 6.The wireless device of claim 2, wherein the triggering event correspondsto determining to perform a random-access channel (RACH) fallbackprocedure after sending a random-access attempt to the target node andnot receiving a random-access response within a random-access responsewindow.
 7. The wireless device of claim 2, wherein the message includingthe measurement information is sent after receiving a random-accessresponse from the target node.
 8. The wireless device of claim 7,wherein the measurement information is included in a Msg3 of arandom-access procedure with the target node or in a handover completemessage.
 9. The wireless device of claim 2, wherein the messageincluding the measurement information indicates measurements associatedwith a set of downlink beams, wherein at least one of the downlink beamsin the set is not a best beam.
 10. The wireless device of claim 2,wherein the message including the measurement information comprisesmeasurement information associated to synchronization signal/physicalbroadcast channel (SS/PBCH) blocks, measurement information associatedto channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources, orboth.
 11. The wireless device of claim 2, wherein determining themeasurement information comprises determining which types of events toconfigure as triggering events.
 12. The wireless device of claim 2,wherein the wireless device is further configured to determine whichmessage to use to send the measurement information.
 13. The wirelessdevice of claim 2, wherein determining measurement information comprisesdetermining which measurements to include in the message.
 14. Thewireless device of claim 2, wherein determining measurement informationcomprises determining which measurements to be included in the messageto the target network node upon accessing.
 15. The wireless device ofclaim 2, wherein the wireless device is further configured to performmeasurements to be included in the message including the measurementinformation to the target network node upon accessing.